Tablets Starting to Dominate Smartphones In Terms of Internet Usage

It seems as if data traffic is one good way to guage the impact of devices making way to markets. Some time ago, global research firm IDC shed light on how mobiles will drive more internet usage than wirelines by 2015. Well, the story adds a new complement according to a new study from video optimization firm Bytemobile, revealing that tablet users drive triple the mobile data traffic than smartphones.

iPad Users Ahead of the Frenzy

Leading the revolution are iPad users, a segment that browses 33 Web pages per session, generating about 160 percent more mobile Web usage per session than iPhone users. Network operators might want to keep analytical tabs on this, since the usage of tablets itself is expected to rise significantly. According to estimates from Forrester, one-third of U.S adults will own a tablet by 2016, a number that could swell to 112 million users. The Bytemobile report also provided some interesting insights into consumer mobile video usage.

According to Chris Koopmans, COO of Bytemobile, the company’s latest insights “further validate the need for mobile network operators to take a proactive approach to measuring and managing escalating data traffic.”

Mobile Videos Becoming Leading Past-Time Option

Why it’s really important for network operators to keep an eye out for data usage trends is because it “demonstrates the advantages of optimization techniques such as proactively caching popular videos within the network, which enables operators to stay ahead of subscriber demand and deliver a superior user experience to all customers.” On average a mobile network with a bit rate of 300 Kbps delivers 74 percent of requested videos at 240p resolution. Anna Yong, product marketing manager of Bytemobile’s Mobile Analytics, said that this stat is important because it shows that consumers on slower speed networks will get lower quality video, which may indicate need for carriers to consider optimization or caching technologies to help improve quality.